The present disclosure relates to a method of temporarily sealing a data storage device and a temporarily sealed device.
Some electrically operated devices, such as data storage devices, are housed in protective enclosures. Some enclosures, also referred to as housings, may be sealed for various reasons, such as to keep out contaminants. Another reason an enclosure may be sealed is to maintain an alternate atmosphere. Some alternate atmospheres may be used to obtain certain performance advantages for some electrical, mechanical, or electro-mechanical devices.
Data storage devices that may be housed in sealed enclosures include disk drives that store data on magnetic or optical disks. For example, a hard disk drive (HDD) may store data on a magnetic disk. An HDD typically includes a base into which various components of the disk drive may be installed. A top cover cooperates with the base to form an enclosure that houses electronic and electro-mechanical components of the disk drive. These components include, for example, a spindle motor, which rotates one or more disks at high speed. Information may be written to and read from tracks on the disks through the use of an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly may include actuator arms, which extend towards the disks, with one or more suspensions or flexures extending from each of the actuator arms. Mounted at the distal end of each of the flexures is a read/write head, which may include an air bearing slider that enables the head to fly in close proximity to the corresponding surface of the associated disk.
Hard disk drives are generally sealed to prevent dust and other external sources of contamination from interfering with operation of the hard disk heads therein. Some hard disk drives are hermetically sealed. A hermetic seal is generally understood to be an airtight seal. Note that some seals (e.g., those “sealing” air within the hard disk drive) are not literally air tight, but rather utilize an extremely fine air filter in conjunction with air circulation inside the hard drive enclosure. The spinning of the disks causes air to circulate therein, forcing any particulates to become trapped on the filter. The same air currents also act as a gas bearing, which enables the heads to float on a cushion of air above the surfaces of the disks. However, “hermetically” sealed means that the seal is so airtight that the disk drive's internal pressure is substantially independent of the external or ambient pressure. This is in contrast to a conventional or non-hermetically sealed disk drive that has a breather port with a filter in a wall of the base plate or cover for equalizing the disk drive's internal pressure with the external pressure. Thus, a hermetically sealed drive does not contain a breather port.
Within a hermetically sealed hard disk drive, gases other than atmospheric air are often employed. Filling the sealed environment of a hard disk drive with gases other than air can enhance their performance. For example, use of lower density inert gases, such as helium, can reduce aerodynamic drag between the disks and their associated read/write heads by a factor of approximately five-to-one as compared to their operation in air. This reduced drag beneficially results in reduced power requirements for the spindle motor. A helium-filled drive, thus, uses substantially less power than a comparable hard disk drive operating in an air environment. At the same time, the helium gas also conducts heat generated during operation of the disk drive away more effectively than air. US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0275054 describes temporary sealing of hermetic hard disk drives with an infrared-transmissive tape. US Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0002067 describes a data storage device that is sealed by a gasket.